I put together this chocolate mint cookie recipe out of my love for chocolate and the desire to use our fragrant, plentiful mint that is flourishing in our garden right now. The contrast between the deep, rich flavor of the cocoa powder and the light, refreshing mint is pure pleasure. With a relatively small amount of ingredients, these cookies are so easy to make. In addition to the basic sugar cookie ingredients, I added cocoa powder and finely chopped fresh mint. (The mint we have in our garden is spearmint, but peppermint would work just as well. And chopping the stuff releases such a fresh fragrance!) What I also like about this recipe is that the sugar is all brown sugar, which also deepens the flavor. The cookies come out moist and tasty–a decadent, yet refreshing treat.
With the mint and other plants thriving, the past few days I have been overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for this place, this verdant corner of the earth. The spring rains have softened everything to a lush, velvety green, and the air is singing with birds and frogs. It also really helps that there aren’t many mosquitoes out yet. My husband and son went fishing with our neighbors and their son the other night. The walk to the lake near our house is very wet, through dark, thick mud and bright green foliage and undergrowth. The journey is not an easy one at this time of year. But when they got there, they took their boots off and let their bare feet sink into the cool water. They sat on the shore and looked out at the calm lake. After such a busy, over-scheduled week, it felt so refreshing to do something unstructured and unhurried. My son caught and released two fish. He and my husband returned smiling and covered in mud. On the back of my son’s shirt were three or four perfectly shaped little muddy handprints, where his neighbor friend had patted him on the back. It is a good life when you can work hard, and then go fishing and eat chocolate mint cookies. Happy Spring! 
Chocolate Mint Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash and finely chop the fresh mint. Cream the butter and the sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and the vanilla, and stir again to mix well. In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture, and stir well until combined. Stir in the mint. Drop by a rounded spoon onto a baking sheet, leaving a couple of inches of space around each ball of dough. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. Let them sit on the baking sheet a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
What a great idea to use some of that mint in the garden. I have never baked with it before but look forward to trying it.
Thank you, Hilda. The fresh mint works really well for flavoring these cookies. And there is a seemingly endless supply of mint right now in a contained part of my garden, since it spreads so much! 🙂
Oh yum! I love chocolate and mint together, and I loved that you used real mint leaves not just the extract!
Thank you! I really enjoy chocolate and mint too.
One of my favorite combinations – love the Girl Scout mint cookies and chocolate mint ice cream. Now, I have a homemade version – thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks! I like the Girl Scout thin mints too–that’s probably why I like these so well. 🙂
Love the combination of chocolate and mint. Delicious
Thank you, I love that combination too. 🙂